Monday, March 23, 2009

IN THAT DAY

The title of this article is "In That Day" because, in the section we are going to cover, God uses the expression "In That Day" seven times. Remember this is a vision. First we have to ask ourselves:

What is God showing in the House of Jacob? (Isaiah 2:5-6)

When God speaks of the "House of Jacob" God is addressing the "House of Israel" in the corporate sense, with all its sins, and ugliness, and self-reliance that Jacob had before God changed his name to Israel. When we apply this term to the New Testament time, the "House of Jacob" represents the Corporate Church, or the External Church, the church that can be observed externally as an organization. As you know, the Bible teaches that not everyone in the Corporate Church is a saved person. Every Church contains people who are not yet saved. Therefore we want to distinguish the External Church, or the Corporate Church, from the Eternal Church, which is that body of believers who truly have been saved. Therefore, when God said in Isaiah 2:5.

Isaiah 2:5O house of Jacob, come ye, and let us walk in the light of the LORD.

This admonition to "let us walk in the light of the LORD" is addressed to the entire Congregation, admonishing them to a conduct that is befitting a child of God. Since the Lord Jesus Christ is the Light that God has sent into the world, this is an admonition to let us walk like Christians. Why did God say:

Isaiah 2:5O house of Jacob, come ye, and let us walk in the light of the LORD.

Because in this vision that God gave Isaiah, they were NOT walking in the Light of the Lord, and God was very angry about that.

We want to know: What makes God so angry?

We also want to know: When will this vision be fulfilled?

Well, we have already seen that the first four verses of chapter 2 apply to the New Testament Church. It is most likely then that the following passage also applies to some section of the New Testament time. And indeed, that is what the following verses bring out:

Isaiah 2:6Therefore thou hast forsaken thy people the house of Jacob, because they be replenished from the east, and are soothsayers like the Philistines, and they please themselves in the children of strangers.

What was their sin?

The KJV is not so clear about that, but the original Hebrew text is clearer. Let me suggest four corrections that you write in the margin or between the lines:

"Therefore" could be translated "Because".

"be replenished" could be translated "are filled".

"please themselves" could be translated "clap their hands".

"children of strangers" could be translated "children of foreigners".

Isaiah 2:6 (LITV)For You have forsaken Your people, the house of Jacob, because they are filled from the east, and are spirit-knowers like the Philistines. And they clap hands with children of foreigners.

Isaiah 2:6 (YLT)For Thou hast left Thy people, the house of Jacob. For they have been filled from the east, And are sorcerers like the Philistines, And with the children of strangers strike hands.

What was their sin?

They are filled with superstitions that have come in from the East, they engage in soothsaying like the Philistines do, and they make agreements with the children of foreigners. In other words, they began to be unequally yoked. (It is like a cancer in the Church; and it spreads like cancer)

Isaiah 2:7Their land also is full of silver and gold, neither is there any end of their treasures; their land is also full of horses, neither is there any end of their chariots:

Let me apply it in today's language: They have boats and mobile homes on their driveways.

Is that a sin?

Possessions are not sin. But when people work during the week, they tend to use the weekends to play with their boats and mobile homes. That means their Church life is out the door. If those possessions draw them to a life of pleasure, and away from Christ, then all that material wealth actually became a curse. This is one way how idolatry enters the life of modern day America.

Isaiah 2:8Their land also is full of idols; they worship the work of their own hands, that which their own fingers have made:

Because, when the heathen worship their idols, that is to be expected. But when the people of God bring idols in the Church, that makes God furious. That was the vision that God gave to Isaiah.

The External Church In That Day (Isaiah 2:10-12, Isaiah 2:17-21)

There is a True Church and there is a False Church. God has a true Church, which is the invisible Eternal Church, of which Christ is the Chief Cornerstone. Christ is the Head of that Church.

We speak of the Corporate Church as the one that is externally visible, which consists of both saved and unsaved people. When the leadership in the Corporate Church contains no more saved people, and the preacher preaches a gospel that is more than the Bible alone, or if he takes away from the Word of God, then that church has become a false church. The Devil is the head of that church. And the Devil is a master counterfeiter, so that people have difficulty recognizing the imitation

In the vision that God gave to Isaiah, the Church has gradually changed to a false church, an idolatrous church.

What is idolatry?

When people do not worship the God of the Bible, they are worshipping devils. God's patience runs out, and God ends it all on Judgment Day:

Isaiah 2:10Enter into the rock, and hide thee in the dust, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty.

Isaiah 2:11The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, and the LORD alone shall be exalted in that day. (1st time)

What is that day?

The next verse explains it:

Isaiah 2:12For the day of the LORD of hosts shall be upon every one that is proud and lofty, and upon every one that is lifted up; and he shall be brought low:

Clearly, when God said "in that day" Judgment Day is in view. Now, drop down to verse 17,

Isaiah 2:17And the loftiness of man shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness of men shall be made low: and the LORD alone shall be exalted in that day. (2nd time)

Isaiah 2:18And the idols he shall utterly abolish.

Isaiah 2:19And they shall go into the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of the earth, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth.

Isaiah 2:20In that day (3rd time) a man shall cast his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, which they made each one for himself to worship, to the moles and to the bats;

Isaiah 2:21To go into the clefts of the rocks, and into the tops of the ragged rocks, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth.

But before Judgment Day comes, there will be a Final Tribulation Period.

During that time:

God will take away every kind of support (Isaiah 3:1-3, Isaiah 3:6-7)

Isaiah 3:1For, behold, the Lord, the LORD of hosts, doth take away from Jerusalem and from Judah the stay and the staff, the whole stay of bread, and the whole stay of water,

Isaiah 3:2The mighty man, and the man of war, the judge, and the prophet, and the prudent, and the ancient,

Isaiah 3:3The captain of fifty, and the honourable man, and the counsellor, and the cunning artificer, and the eloquent orator.

God will even take away the leaders of the Church:

Isaiah 3:6When a man shall take hold of his brother of the house of his father, saying, Thou hast clothing, be thou our ruler, and let this ruin be under thy hand:

Isaiah 3:7In that day (4th time) shall he swear, saying, I will not be an healer; for in my house is neither bread nor clothing: make me not a ruler of the people.

Isaiah 3:8For Jerusalem is ruined, and Judah is fallen: because their tongue and their doings are against the LORD, to provoke the eyes of his glory.

What was their sin?

Why is Jerusalem ruined and Judah is fallen?

Because they provoked the eyes of his glory. They did not give God the glory that was His.

Isaiah 3:12As for my people, children are their oppressors, and women rule over them. O my people, they which lead thee cause thee to err, and destroy the way of thy paths.

Today, many churches have women rule over them. They do that regardless what the Bible says.

The Daughters of Zion are haughty (Isaiah 3:16-19, Isaiah 3:25-26)

Isaiah 3:16Moreover the LORD saith, Because the daughters of Zion are haughty, and walk with stretched forth necks and wanton eyes, walking and mincing as they go, and making a tinkling with their feet:

Isaiah 3:17Therefore the Lord will smite with a scab the crown of the head of the daughters of Zion, and the LORD will discover their secret parts.

Isaiah 3:18In that day (5th time) the Lord will take away the bravery of their tinkling ornaments about their feet, and their cauls, and their round tires like the moon,

Isaiah 3:19The chains, and the bracelets, and the mufflers,

………………and so on.

God has a great deal more to say about the Daughters of Zion.

Isaiah 3:25Thy men shall fall by the sword, and thy mighty in the war.

Isaiah 3:26And her gates shall lament and mourn; and she being desolate shall sit upon the ground.

Then we come to Isaiah 4:1, which is a strange looking parable.

What has this parable to do with the Gospel?

Ah, then we remember that the Bible is a spiritual Book. This parable reveals to us aportion of the history of the New Testament Church. It is:

The Parable of the Defiant External Church (Isaiah 4:1)

All along in Isaiah 1, 2 and 3, the language has been difficult because God has been speaking in parabolic language. But here, in chapter 4, just in that first verse, God gave us a complete parable that describes to a tee the condition of the Church in the Final Tribulation Period. This is the sixth time that God says "In That Day". Here God does not focus on Judgment Day itself, but on the Final Tribulation Period, which is the last event just preceding Judgment Day.

Isaiah 4:1And in that day seven women shall take hold of one man, saying, We will eat our own bread, and wear our own apparel: only let us be called by thy name, to take away our reproach.

There are seven objects, or action items, in view here that we have to look at:

1) Here are seven women.

2) They take hold of someone.

3) There is one man. Literally the Hebrew text says that these seven women "hold up" or "support" this one man.

4) We will eat our own bread.

5) We will wear our own apparel.

6) Only let us be called by Thy Name.

7) To take away our reproach. In the Hebrew text the primary meaning of this verb is "to gather and take away". Secondly, this is said in the Imperative Mood, which means: it is said like an order or a command.

Remember, this is a parable. First we must find a spiritual meaning for these seven women.

Who are the seven women representing? (Revelation 1:4,11)

Whenever we need a spiritual meaning for a woman in the Bible, she always turns out to be a religious organization, such as the New Testament Church, or the Old Testament Congregation, or a false gospel.

For example, you ladies should not get depressed when you read about the perfect woman in Proverbs 31. This is not describing a perfect Christian woman.

Did you know that?

This is the Church.

Another example is that the Eternal Church, consisting of all the Old Testament and New Testament Saints, is called the Bride of Christ. This is the Bride of the Lamb that is described in Revelation 21.

And now, look at the context where Isaiah 4:1 is located: In Isaiah 3:16 God started to speak to the Daughters of Zion, which is the Church, and God was still speaking to them at the end of the chapter in Isaiah 3:26. But then in Isaiah 4:1 their condition has become so terrible that God does not use the name Daughters of Zion any more. But it is the same women whom God has in view.

These seven women represent the New Testament church in the Final Tribulation Period.

When I think of the Final Tribulation Period, what portion of the Bible does that remind me of?

Of course! The Revelation of Jesus Christ. Perhaps you remember our opening verses this morning:

Revelation 1:4John to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace be unto you, and peace, from him which is, and which was, and which is to come; and from the seven Spirits which are before his throne;

Do you see the connection?

Seven Churches = Seven women

The Lord Jesus Christ appeared to the Apostle John and commanded him in verse 11

Revelation 1:11Saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last: and, What thou seest, write in a book, and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia; unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea.

This letter was not meant just for these Seven Churches of Asia minor.

To whom was this letter written?

Who do the Seven Churches of Asia Minor represent?

They represent the entire New Testament Church.

And what is the dominant feature in this letter of Revelation?

At least eight chapters in Revelation are dealing with some aspect of the Final Tribulation Period.

And when you read Revelation chapter 2 and 3, is it not astounding that already in the 1st Century AD five of the seven Churches in Asia Minor are in some state of apostasy?

From thereon was it getting better or worse?

History proves that it was getting worse as time went on.

The number 7, if it has any spiritual meaning, indicates "Perfection". In Isaiah 4:1 these Seven Women represent the New Testament church, which has become a false church, matured to perfection.

The gospel that is preached in the false church during the Final Tribulation Period is no longer the Gospel of the Bible alone. It is no longer the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. It has become another gospel, and in reality they are worshipping another jesus. God accurately describes the condition of the Church in that day in Amos 8:11-12.

Amos 8:11Behold, the days come, saith the Lord GOD, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD:

Amos 8:12And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the LORD, and shall not find it.

Perhaps many of you can identify with that. Perhaps you have experienced that you went to a church on Sunday, but you came home empty. Today we are may already be living in or are very close to that period of time which the bible calls "the great tribulation". In most Churches today the Word of God is not the center of all the attention. Instead they say:

1) Come and receive this gift of the Holy Spirit.

2) Come and hear this famous personality.

3) Come and be blessed by the music, or see the nice building.

4) Come and see miracles performed and demons cast out. And so on.

You see, this is attracting the multitudes: see and feel good and have this experience.

But there is more in Isaiah 4:1. See the false church in action:

Isaiah 4:1And in that day seven women shall take hold of one man, saying, We will eat our own bread, and wear our own apparel: only let us be called by thy name, to take away our reproach.

Who is this one man that they hold up?

That man represents the Lord Jesus Christ.

When a man marries a woman, he is to provide for her. But here these women want to provide for their own bread and for their own apparel.

Why?

Because they do not want Christ to be ruling over them (2 Thessalonians 2:11-13)

Instead of being subject to the Gospel of the Bible alone, and being subject to Christ who is the Bread of Life, they want to eat their own bread, they want their own gospel, their own plan of salvation.

Instead of receiving the Robe of Christ's Righteousness freely, without any work on their part, they want a righteousness of their own, they want a security which is not only based on Christ's work only, but also on something that they can FEEL or something that they can DO. They do not trust Christ, but they trust in something that they have done. Let me suggest seven examples:

1) They trust the action that they came forward in church and accepted the Lord Jesus in their heart.

2) Or, they trust in the action that they said the sinner's prayer just like their Pastor said.

3) Or, they trust in the action that they have been baptized in water.

4) Or, they trust that they have lived a very good life, and God will reward their good works.

5) Or, they trust that Christ has done all He could, and now all you have to do is believe in Jesus.

6) Or, they trust that the good and warm feeling inside comes from God the Holy Spirit.

7) Or, they trust in a dream or vision they have received, and that they now have received the ability to speak in tongues.

All these ideas are not from the Bible; they are doctrines of devils. But when a church has drifted into apostasy, they will generate more and more of these doctrines of devils. This is what God warned us for in 2 Thessalonians 2:11-13. This you have to read carefully:

2 Thessalonians 2:11And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie: (Note: It is God who sends them strong delusion.)

2 Thessalonians 2:12That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

(Don't stop there)

2 Thessalonians 2:13But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth:

Can you see how these three verses hang together?

During the Final Tribulation Period, when a Church has drifted into apostasy, God will reinforce their unbelief by sending them a strong delusion of some kind, verse 11, because they believed not the Truth, as it says in verse 12.

What is the Truth that they do not believe?

The answer is in the next verse, verse 13, where God in the end of verse 13 again repeats "Belief of the Truth".

And what is their sin?

God spells it out in verse 13,

"Beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation".

This is what the Bible declares almost on every page, if you want to see it. Our God does the saving, and we have no contribution in it. But the false church close to the end of time does not want the Authority of the Bible; rather they want their own gospel.

What is their sin?

They do not want a God who hath from the beginning chosen us to salvation.

And yet, and yet, they take hold of Christ and want to be called by His Name: They want to be called Christians. But they do not trust that Christ does the saving, rather they trust that Christ will do what they command Him. Look at the words of Isaiah 4:1 one more time:

Isaiah 4:1And in that day seven women shall take hold of one man, saying, We will eat our own bread, and wear our own apparel: only let us be called by thy name, to take away our reproach.

What is the reproach that these women have?

What is a reproach?

A reproach is a Discredit, or a Disgrace because of Sin. They have enough sense to realize that they are not sinless. The Bible says that there was only one day in the history of the world that sins were gathered and taken away. That was when the Lord Jesus Christ died on the Cross almost 2000 years ago. But He did that without our approval. He did that without us asking for it, because we were not around at that time.

But the church near the end of time does not believe in a God who chooses whom He will save, rather they believe that they must do something to claim the Blood of Christ. That is why they say to Christ in the Imperative Mood: gather and take away our reproach. Which almost sounds like:

Yes Lord, I want to be saved and I want it right now.

That is a sad state of affairs for the Church in the end time.

Will there be any true believers alive when the church is worldwide in a state of apostasy?

Yes, there will be true believers alive. The Eternal Church will never die, because the Lord Jesus said:

Matthew 16:18Upon this rock (i.e. Christ) I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

The Eternal Church In That Day (Isaiah 4:2, Jeremiah 23:5)

God comforts those who have remained faithful until the end in Isaiah 4, beginning at verse 2.

Isaiah 4:2In that day shall the branch of the LORD be beautiful and glorious, ...

This is the SEVENTH time God said: "In That Day".

Who is the Branch of the Lord?

There are many places where the Branch of the Lord is spoken of. Just listen to this one. Jeremiah 23:5,

Jeremiah 23:5Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth.

Who is this King who shall execute judgment and justice?

Well, we don't have to guess. This can only be the Lord Jesus Christ. Let me continue in Isaiah 4:2.

Isaiah 4:2In that day shall the branch of the LORD be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the earth shall be excellent and comely for them that are escaped of Israel.

On the Last Day Christ will appear, every eye shall see Him and He will be beautiful and glorious.

Then what is the fruit of the earth?

The fruit of the earth is the New Heaven & New Earth we will inherit on the Last Day, and it will be for pride and for glory to those who have remained faithful and have escaped the trappings of the false church. God will again perform surgery: He will remove the false church into Hell, and the Eternal Church will be called "the New Jerusalem". Look now at verse 3. We see here:

The Remnant Chosen By Grace (Isaiah 4:3-6)

Isaiah 4:3And it shall come to pass, that he that is left in Zion, and he that remaineth in Jerusalem, shall be called holy, every one that is written among the living in Jerusalem:

In verse 3 God speaks about: "every one that is written among the living in Jerusalem." They are among the living, not because of their endurance, but because they have been written. The New Testament says: They have been written in God's Book, the Book of Life of the Lamb, which was written before the foundation of the world. Look how this is confirmed in verse 4:

Isaiah 4:4When the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and shall have purged the blood of Jerusalem from the midst thereof by the spirit of judgment, and by the spirit of burning.

Did the Daughters of Zion deserve to be saved for their endurance?

No! Not at all. But God has His Elect people whom He intended to save from among the Daughters of Zion. They are the ones whose names have been written in God's Book. Their sins were washed away at the Cross, not everybody's sins of the whole world. And the sins of Jerusalem, the Church, were rinsed from their midst by the spirit of judgment, and by the spirit of burning on the Last Day. But to indicate our safety, God draws a picture, parallel to the protection He gave to Israel in the desert:

Isaiah 4:5And the LORD will create upon every dwelling place of mount Zion, and upon her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day, and the shining of a flaming fire by night: for upon all the glory shall be a defence.

Isaiah 4:6And there shall be a tabernacle for a shadow in the daytime from the heat, and for a place of refuge, and for a covert from storm and from rain.

God's irresistible Grace will keep His people protected throughout the Final Tribulation Period. We will be safe. Nevertheless,

We have to be on the alert (2 Peter 3:17-18)

2 Peter 3:17Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own stedfastness.

2 Peter 3:18But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.

We cannot sit back and assume that our Church will not be attacked by apostasy.

God says: "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge" (Hosea 4:6) Apostasy comes into a Church when the people do not know the Bible, so that they have to trust the clergy instead of trusting God.

We need to know what the Bible says, and we need to learn how to compare Scripture with Scripture.

We need to search the Scriptures like the Bereans in Acts 17. But in the end, it is only by the Grace of God if we come to know the Truth.

About Me

Elected by my Heavenly Father before the foundation of the world to eternal life with himself, not through any forseen free will faith but only by God's mercy. Jesus Christ the only begotten of the Father then redeemed me through his precious blood shed on the cross and the Holy Spirit made me alive in Christ, it was only then that i willfully ran to the mercy of God through his son Jesus Christ.
Therefore i am but a piece of clay whom the Father had mercy on - and the father now works in me to will and do of his good pleasure - all for the glory of himself and his dear son Jesus.
Heavenly Father has graciously given me a desire for truth - and my aim is to share this truth that the Lord Jesus has revealed to me to whoever he wills.
for many are called but few are chosen.